Five area athletes headed to State

NORWALK — The highest finish among High Desert athletes in the CIF-Southern Section Masters meet came from an unexpected jumper.

Serrano's Jamaal Franklin, a junior standout in basketball, cleared 6 feet, 6 inches in the high jump Friday to finish second and qualify for the CIF State meet.

Franklin barely qualified for the Masters meet on May 17 as he finished 13th place for the first alternate spot in the division finals. Fortunately, he managed to get into Friday's competition.

His legs were tired in the division preliminaries and finals from playing football and basketball, Franklin said. He took the whole week off to rest them, and it paid off. This is his first year participating in track and field.

Sultana's Trarell Burley jumped 6-2 but didn't qualify.

The state preliminaries will be held on May 30 at Cerritos College followed by the next day's finals.

For Serrano's Kauren Tarver, Masters is just a stepping stone. Tarver qualified in the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 11.62 seconds for fourth place.

"Of course I wanted to win, but it's not really about winning, it's about moving on," Tarver said. "Keep moving on to the next level."

In the divisional finals, she lost her balance and fell down right before the finish line to be the seventh qualifier. She also suffered from the extreme heat, but this week it was opposite as the temperature stayed around 60 degrees with occasional rain.

"I liked it a lot better," Tarver said. "It was easier to run. The weather was perfect for a good race."

Sultana's Brett Walters, and Anthony Solis and Isaac Chavez of Barstow qualified for state in the boys 3,200 meters. Walters finished in 9:07.72 to take third and Solis finished fifth in 9:12.62. Chavez took seventh in the race, but met the qualifying time as he ran in 9:13.74.

The race resembled the division finals for Walters. He was leading until the final two laps when two runners behind him started to make a charge.

"I would have loved if someone else took the lead for a while," Walters said. "I was like, 'Come on, somebody take the lead.' "

Still, like Tarver, Walters is aiming for a bigger goal. He didn't make last year's state meet, but he is ready this time.

From Apple Valley, senior Phil Rivera finished sixth in the boys 400 with a time of 48.91, missing the state meet by one spot. Rivera improved from last year's eighth place finish in Masters, but he said he's unhappy with the result.

"I was here last year, so I was a little bit more used to the competition," Rivera said. "I knew there was going to be fast people. I tried to stay with them as long as I could, but I fell short at the end."

Apple Valley's discus thrower Jordan Bernal competed in Masters for the first time and took ninth with 157-3.

"It was a little nerve-wrecking and I had to deal with that and the rain," Bernal said. "My coaches only had one other thrower coming to the Masters meet (in the past), so it's a good accomplishment."

Burroughs' Kayla Kovar heads to the state meet as she took second in the girls discus (153-1).

"The ring was a little bit slippery, but I overcame that so I'm happy with how I placed and how far I threw, and most of all I'm happy with my form," Kovar said. "I'm gonna go for a gold (at the state meet)."

Tomoya Shimura can be reached at tshimura@vvdailypress.com or 951-6284.